De Bethune DB28 Skybridge Watch Hands-On

De Bethune creates some of the most unique looking and distinctive watches on the market today. With a stellar aesthetic and standout case design, the new Skybridge is an interesting addition to their DB28 range of watches. The DB28 Skybridge employs the same skeletonized floating lugs and twelve o'clock crown placement seen on other models in the DB28 family, but offers a less complicated dial arrangement with an artful interpretation of the De Bethune design language.

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The Skybridge offers a duality of modernism and elegance that has the look of a dressy Linde Werdelin, meant to be worn to a gala ball, on the moon. The Skybridge features a 43 mm polished titanium case with a 45 mm matched bezel. The case looks lovely but is entirely upstaged by the dial, also based in blued and polished titanium, which mimics a view of the night sky and is garnished with a selection of polished titanium balls (acting as mid-dial hour markers) and diamonds. There is a minute track surrounding the dial and a large conical design element intersecting the dial like an art deco spaceship. At the base of this "spaceship" is a small orb that functions as a very understated moon phase display. While I am hesitant to use the word "romantic", that is my genuine impression of the dial design for the Skybridge, and I love it. The ornate hands, the rich blue of the dial, and the charming dial design all make for a very compelling watch.

Mechanically speaking, the DB28 Skybridge is fairly straightforward. Running on the DB2105 in-house and hand-wound movement from De Bethune, the Skybridge has no seconds hand and no date, possibly because they would detract from the design. The beautiful DB2105 movement is viewable via a display case back and features a distinctly De Bethune design and beautiful finishing. The DB2105 has 236 parts in its construction, including twin barrels and 27 jewels supporting a six day power reserve.

This is not De Bethune's first go at a watch with this overall look but I feel that the way in which they have minimized the impact of the time and moon phase display has allowed additional dial real estate (and visual attention) to be invested in the nature of the design. Not only will the DB28 Skybridge be a perfectly functional and reliable dress watch, but you have to assume there is a sense of occasion when you choose to wear a watch like this. While not a simple-looking watch, the De Bethune DB28 Skybridge does offer a distinctive and enchanting wrist presence that would be sure to rival anything else in your collection.

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James Stacey

James (@jamesstacey) is a writer, dilettante photographer and part-time adventurer. An obsessive fan of many things, he loves watches for their breadth of style, historical connections and raw technical design. James has tendency for diving with dive watches, obsessing about case thickness and, despite owning a vast collection of leather straps, he lives by the adage - "when in doubt, just nato". He also wrote this entire bio himself and is pretty sure it's not a cry for help.

It’s quite interesting to note that the case is smaller than the bezel – I assume this helps the watch fit nicely on smaller wrists. So, any live shots of this piece?
I haven’t been around these parts as much lately because I’ve just started a watch blog: The Ticking Truth. The flavour is slightly different (more Canadian), so encourage all of you to check it out and let me know what you think: http://www.thetickingtruth.com/

JonnyD

Congratulations on your blog. It’s always good to have another voice out there, letting us watch nerds know the latest pieces to look out for. Best of luck with it.

B0rdeaux

Beautiful watch with a simple yet very different look. I think I would prefer it even without the minute track around the edge of the dial for a more minimalist elegant look. When you wear a watch like this who cares about precise time.

Ulysses31

It’s gorgeous. I’m a sucker for blue dials anyway, but they’ve managed to make an abstract design that’s still perfectly legible. The clever articulated design adds to the appeal. While I like it an awful lot, I do have some reservations about what might seem to be overtly Star-Trek inspired symbols both on the movement and the “ship” on the front, both of which resemble the “Starfleet” insignia.